Despite a nearby four-acre fire that interrupted the Saturday afternoon and evening performances at the Topanga Community Center, the young actors quickly pulled it together for a final performance on Sunday afternoon when Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum came to the rescue and offered their stage. There’s no business like show business with a heart.

The latest youth musical to hit the boards in the Canyon was Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical that played at the Topanga Community Center (TCC) on Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday Nov. 16 for just the first act due to a fire nearby that broke out around 2:35 p.m.

During the intermission, the play’s director, Kristy Beauvais, calmly informed the audience that the second act of the show was cancelled, as well as that evening’s performance.

Remarkably, after striking the entire set from the TCC on Saturday, the show was completely restaged and somewhat rehearsed on Sunday morning for a final performance at 2 p.m. at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum.

That is an outstanding example of the entire cast and crew living up to the theatrical tradition of “the show must go on!”

Technical problems plagued the production throughout, including issues with the lighting at the TCC, a sound system that made it nearly impossible to understand the dialogue through the microphones, and the way too loud music that prevented the actors from being heard.

Yet all the young performers knew their lines and choreography, adopted British dialects, hit their marks, and shined while singing and dancing their hearts out.

Winner of more than 90 international awards, including 23 for Best Musical, Matilda is the story of an extraordinary little girl—neglected by her parents because she wasn’t a boy—but who is armed with a vivid imagination, a sharp mind, a bit of telekinesis, and dares to take a stand to change her own destiny. She is also “a little bit naughty!”

Matilda in Topanga

The Topanga production was the result of the efforts of FOCUSFish, the non-profit that brought the circus to the canyon with their aerial arts pavilion at the Cali Camp/Manzanita campus, which has expanded to bring children’s musical theater to Topanga.

FOCUSFish founder and Matilda director Kristy Beauvais, along with her producing partner, Jill Williams, have been creating shows for more than ten years with their musical productions at Topanga Elementary.

In this production Matilda featured more than 35 actors between the ages of 7 to 13 from six schools, including Manzanita, Topanga Elementary, Topanga Mountain School, Viewpoint, Waldorf, Paul Revere, and many homeschoolers.

During the show, several performers really stood out, including tiny Maxine Hexum as the Young Matilda and, of course, the amazing Sailor Ramos as the older Matilda, who acted, danced, and sang her way into our hearts.

Playing the adorable Little Kids were Mahina Choothesa-Sargis as Alice; Anika Williams as Luce; Echo Hexum as Horensia; Macie Kennedy as Eric; Bo Schmid as Tommy; Freddie Fulcher as Nigel; Brodie Beauvais as Amanda and Tallulah Gandee, who had some hilarious bits as Lavender.

Matilda’s cruel and clueless parents were played by Charlie Burrows as Mr. Wormwood and Aurora Finetti as Mrs. Wormwood.

Burrows had some clever moments singing “Telly,” and Finetti’s amazing performance of “Loud” was a real showstopper.

Tanner Boynton played Matilda’s brother, Michael, alternately indulged in and ignored by their narcissistic parents, and was double cast as The Cook. Cassius Brown nearly stole the show with his comic antics as Mrs. Wormwood’s dance partner Rudolfo.

Cheering Matilda on was her demure schoolteacher, Miss Honey, played by Allegra Frost, who performed touching renditions of “This Little Girl,” “I’m Here,” and “My House.”

Sophie Sexton was also wonderful as Mrs. Phelps, the sweet librarian who not only encouraged, but was addicted to Matilda’s fantastical stories.

Helping to spin Matilda’s tales were the Escapologist and his wife, The Acrobat, each well played by Wolf Momoa and Lola Momoa.

Naturally, there must be a villain and Emma Farkas camped it up and brought down the house as the evil Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the school’s headmistress.

Filling out the cast were Santo Wagstaffe as the Doctor; Gaia De Mesquito as the Nurse; Birdie Douglass as the Puppeteer; and Phoebe Krull, who stole the show as Sergei, the Russian Mob Boss, assisted by Henchman No. 1, Henry Whittenberg and Raiden Ray as Henchman 2.

The Aerialists, Chloe Gaines, Gaia De Mesquito, Bodhi Lae and Satya Finch took to the trapezes to the great thrill of the audience.

What Beauvais took on, in her own words, “a challenging family theater production,” was an ambitious task, not the least of which was the last-minute restaging with 35 young actors and crew. Together, Team Matilda made it all work. Brava! Bravissimo!

As Beauvais writes in her director’s letter: “Let’s continue to address bullying and empower our children with love and community. Like Matilda, let’s never be afraid to say, ‘That’s not right!’”

Team Matilda

The production team was headed by Jill Williams, who helped put the whole show together. The music director was Gabbi Beauvais; choreographer was Kristy Beauvais; set building and trapeze rigging were designed and constructed by Paul Beauvais; and Sabrina Zeri did the scenic painting and props.

Jewels Nation was the stage manager; lighting and video was designed by Tom Mitchell, who also provided the sound with Glenn Gaines, while Richard Brody manned the spotlight at the TCC. Eliza Schneider was the dialect coach and Paulina Plopa was the junior dialect coach.

Gabbi Beauvais and Mikayla Williams did hair and makeup and the backstage moms, Destiny Finetti and Tanya Farkas, wrangled the kids and costume changes. Bonnie Graves and Hilary Boynton provided the concessions.​Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the Musical, is still a big draw in London, on Broadway, and in touring companies throughout the world. It is based on Dahl’s 1988 children’s novel of the same name. The Tony Award-winning musicalwas adapted by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, which was later made into a movie starring Danny DeVito and Mara Wilson.

Youth theatre is flourishing in the Canyon and the latest extravaganza to hit the boards is Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the Musical for three performances at the Topanga Community Center (TCC), November 15-16.

Matilda the Musical is a long-running London and Tony Award-winning stage musical based on the 1988 children’s novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It was adapted by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, which was later made into a movie starring Danny DeVito and Mara Wilson.

Winner of more than 90 international awards, including 23 for Best Musical, Matilda is the story of an extraordinary little girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

Currently, the only other theatre to produce Matilda in Southern California is at the La Mirada Theatre in La Mirada.

The Topanga production is the result of the efforts of FOCUSFish, the non-profit that brought the circus to the canyon with their aerial arts pavilion at the Cali Camp/Manzanita campus, which has now expanded to bring community children’s theater to Topanga.

FOCUSFish founder and Matilda director Kristy Beauvais, along with her producing partner, Jill Williams, have been delighting audiences for more than ten years with their musical productions at Topanga Elementary Charter School (TECS). The pair has now collaborated to bring musical theater to other schools and communities around Topanga.

As a result, Matilda will feature the talents of more than 35 student-actors, ages 7-13, from six schools, including the Manzanita School, TECS, Topanga Mountain School, Viewpoint, Waldorf, Paul Revere, and many homeschoolers. The show will include aerialists flying over a set that will be moved around by the actors themselves.

“We will be doing the show “in the round” at TCC and will feature the famous Roald Dahl story with singing, dancing, trapeze, and acrobats,” Williams wrote.

FOCUSfish has had aerial programming for all students at Manzanita since the school opened more than five years ago,” Beauvais wrote. “The four featured aerialists were chosen for their experience on the static trapeze, gained as a student of this program at the school. I had to know that they were going to be safe and mature enough to handle this big moment in the show.

“Instead of the swings used in the Broadway version of the song,“When I Grow Up,” we have chosen to replace the swings with trapezes that the children will swing on and perform tricks on. Also, the roles of the Acrobat and Escapologist (performed by Lola and Wolf Momoa) will utilize the trapeze as a symbol of their love.”

The cast rehearses Monday through Wednesday afternoons at Manzanita and in the FOCUSfish pavilion on campus. Williams said that there will be plenty of adults and parents who will also help with sound, lights, sets, and costumes. In fact, Kristy Beauvais’ 16-year-old daughter Gabbi adapted the musical parts for the actors.

“When kids see the parents volunteer on their behalf, it is a good example [of how] to give back to the community,” Williams said.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, will play at the Topanga Community House on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 16 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Kristy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.

I’ve been a dancer since the age of three. My Mom owned a dance studio and my Dad owned a gym. It’s not surprising I run a dance theatre fitness business. The unpredictable part is the aerial arts element of our non-profit.

You see, my Dad wanted to be the next Lou Ferigno (the original Incredible Hulk). So, he sold our house, packed our things in boxes, and moved us to the LA area when I was 11 years old. It was cool for my younger twin sisters and I because we were in the back of a very 70’s looking van, complete with a brown satin-sheeted bed. We got to stop at all of the best tourist spots along the way. We did the classic “Vacation” visit to the Grand Canyon. We looked at the big hole in the ground and left. We got to play Circus Circus in Vegas while Daddy gambled. We won a lot of the same dog stuffed animal. That was weird. But what I remember telling my Mom was, “I’m going to be a trapeze performer at Circus Circus one day.” (We stayed in LA for three months and my Dad quit trying and moved us back to Louisiana).

Well, that didn’t happen, but I managed to start an aerial arts business by accident. When I met my husband, Paul, the first week of my moving to LA (we worked at the same downtown theatre in NYC, even lived in the same neighborhood, but never met), we knew we were going to create art together. We just didn’t know we were going to get married, have a baby, and start FOCUSfish all at the same time.

Paul came from an acting background. He was making movies and writing. I had come from a very conservatory, contemporary dance life in NYC, along with musical theatre touring, puppeteering, and avant garde theatre. We wanted to create a business that allowed us to be creative with other families. Introduce moving theatre, not only to our children but any children that would create with us.

We opened FOCUSfish in 2003 in Hollywood. We thought we would change the landscape of the seedy Gower and Santa Monica Blvd area. We created a family-oriented oasis in the middle of some unsavory sights. Clients loved our 7,000 square foot, sprung maple floor, sky blue walls of spinning, GYROTONIC, massage, dance, open indoor toddler gym, birthday parties, and CIRCUS! Yes, we had 30 ft barrel-vaulted ceilings. Perfect for hanging static trapezes, lyras and many colorful silks. As soon as the community caught wind of our space we had aerial artists dropping in just to hang their equipment in our space. Madonna, Beyonce, Paula Abdul and Cher all rented our space for their shows. The problem was Los Angeles. Los Angeles loves their cars. They love their parking garages. They love their valet. We couldn’t afford that, nor was there space for that. So, Dr. Phil swiped our space and we left for greener pastures. Literally, we decided it was time to get out of the city life and into the canyon of Topanga.

I just never wanted to hang out in a regular gym. And, as much as I love dance and teaching dance, I didn’t want a regular dance studio. My Mom and Dad did that. I wanted to be different. Create something new. And, my husband always supported that. And, because he is also a contractor, he learned the rigging trade and became our rigging specialist, so that whatever I dreamed up, he could help to facilitate it.

I had no actual home base, at that time, so I became a mobile teacher. I started circus camps, theatre programs, fitness programs for children in need, and school physical education programming. Elementary schools were taking PE out because of lack of funds. Here I was, an artist, starting a family. I definitely didn’t have the private school tuition in my bank account, so I felt inspired to do something to help change that sedentary landscape in our young children’s school days. We started artistic fitness programs in public and private schools from 2003 until the present. We have served over 20 schools in the LA area.

Moving to Topanga has brought out the PTA Mom in me. It is such a close, all-in kind of community. After living in NYC where I didn’t even know the people living in the apartment next to me, I found this refreshing. I literally became the President of the parent board at the elementary school and started choreographing the school musical. And I should interject now and say that this was no little kid, cardboard sets-kinda school play. This was high end, Topanga Canyon artist parents-type stuff, and it was just where we needed to be as a growing family that liked putting on shows. My oldest girl, Gabbi was now 6 yrs old, already a little artist in her own right, and my second girl, Brodie, was on the way.

So, while aerial arts has been much of what I’ve taught to people of all ages and abilities, it’s not all that I do. I was missing choreographing dance that actually happened on the floor, so getting back to musical theatre has been exciting. One of the original creators of the Topanga theatre program, Jill Williams, has become my producing partner, and we’ve taken our program into other local schools from Koreatown to Calabasas.

The manager at Cali-Camp at the time said they wanted to build us an aerial pavilion so that we could run our non-profit out of it through community aerial classes and events, and also build the program for the summer camp and new-to-be-established school. Here we are eight years later. We have this beautiful outdoor pavilion at Big Rock Ranch that we call our home.

It’s funny. As I write this, I’m sort of dizzy from it. I guess I do a lot. That was always the issue. People wanted us to fit in a box. Choose one thing and do it really big. Well, FOCUSfish is really big and it’s a lot of things to a lot of different types of people, and that keeps my family busy and happy, MOVING. Yes, I teach preschool aerial programming on Monday morning, then drive back to theatre rehearsal in the afternoon, while FOCUSfish teachers instruct aerial arts programming for Manzanita School and the community in our after-school schedule. I get to take my dance and spinning classes on Tuesdays and actually tend to my family’s needs (like driving my kids to their extracurricular activities, which does include aerial at our pavilion). I teach adult aerial fitness and choreography on a Wednesday morning, and do the administrative duties after that, before getting back to musical rehearsal… there, you get it. It’s varied, it’s busy. It’s all-ages programming. And it keeps me healthy.

The one thing I forgot to write about is one of the most rewarding things I get to do. I get to bring the challenging sport of aerial to children with terminal illness and special needs. This last week, my now 16 yr old Gabbi and I got to drive out to The Painted Turtle (this is our third summer doing programming there) and teach aerial workshops to large groups of children who are told that they can’t do normal things like summer camp and strenuous extra-curricular activities. Well, we taught climbs and upside-down straddles, and how to make the fabric look like a tornado. The kids performed a routine that we choreographed to Rocketman and they got to share it with the other children who chose different camp activities. They blew everyone away!

That kind of impact is why I do what I do, and why I don’t choose one type of person to teach or one type of art to create. FOCUSfish doesn’t fit in a box, and neither do I. I’m a Cancer, born on the 4th of July. I’m choosing to go through life, swimmingly. Navigating through the choppy waters of life, like a firecracker… HAHA, I’m done with the puns. Just trying not to take it all so seriously, ya know?

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

As I stated earlier, parking for our beautiful oasis was a huge problem, and people with money and Hollywood pull were breathing down our necks.

Since then, we became a non -profit. But because I enjoy the activity of teaching and directing the programs, I am not in my office typing away at grants. So, it’s hard to get the funding we need to pay for all of my administrative and executive director duties, as well as afford insurance and all of the specialty equipment we need for our programs in the schools and in our community centers. Often, we have to ask Paul to take his off-time from regular contractor work to rig FOCUSfish events. There are rarely enough funds for his work. Paul puts in a lot of charity time to our non-profit. And all of my time sending out emails, registering students, meeting with school principals and event coordinators is donated time, as well.

Our beautiful outdoor pavilion experienced a whole new treatment this last Winter and Spring because we created this workout space in the middle of a drought. This year, we broke that drought and the rains came! We had to cancel some classes or refund some clients. We had to ask for the purchase of new mats and replace equipment much sooner than usual. Now our pavilion has limited shade because the winds destroyed our curtains. Replacing these items is tens of thousands of dollars. So, although we love our unique training space, it’s not without its challenges.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about FOCUSfish – what should we know?

FOCUSFish is an artistic fitness program that inspires people of all ages and abilities with its unique and passionate approach to the art of physical education. We empower these communities with FLIGHT by offering aerial arts education grounded in sound physical education principles; and lift their spirits with family circus and community theatre entertainment, featuring people of all ages and abilities.

What makes us different than other circus schools or theatre programs, is that we don’t just choose the top athletes who want to be in Cirque Du Soleil. We want everyone to feel like they could be in Cirque Du Soleil, simply by training where they are, physically… continually challenging the body, through self-expression, as well as strength-building.

Our theatre programs for children are the only musicals for young children that incorporate many styles of dance and martial arts, like Capoeira, Contemporary, Jazz and Modern, but also include aerial arts!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?

I have a big energy. It’s a motivating energy that works with kids, especially. I direct 100 children in a single musical and it works! I love watching children find themselves through character acting and creative movement.

Focusfish, the non-profit that brings aerial & theatre arts to schools and communities, is proud to introduce it’s musical theater program as an innovative, after-school, community theatrical experience.FOCUSfish presents an array of creative opportunities, including costume design, set design, aerial, singing, contemporary dancing, social and cultural dancing, stage managing & more! In true community theatre fashion, Focusfish & community artists will mentor children… while the older children mentor the young performers!

Thank you so much for your support of FOCUSFish and all its partnerships in the schools, and communities of special needs. We couldn’t do it without your help. With growing insurance costs and specialty training for coaches… and the still reduced funding for schools, we need your help.Please consider clicking on the DONATE button of the home page, at the top right-hand corner.It is tax-deductible and our TAX ID# is: 26-0530647​With much gratitude and LOVE!Happy Holidays… and here’s to 2018!

A FOCUSfish fundraiser not to be missed! Never before done and soooooo cool! SCROLL DOWN FOR COMPLETE INFO…

September 18th:LA River Kayak Safari

What?“LA River Kayak Safari offers the premier Los Angeles River paddling experience. We guide patrons on a journey through a naturalized section of the Los Angeles River that is resplendent with wildlife. The Elysian Valley section of the river is not just your “Terminator” or car chase scene. In Elysian Valley, otherwise known as Frogtown, nature and urban life collide, giving a vision to future long term river restoration efforts. LARKS tour guides are swift water rescue trained paddlers who guide you through this unique experience. The tour includes lazy river sections, as well as modest (but fun) rapids and some challenging rock navigation. Our guides are expert kayak instructors who get paddlers up to speed fast. Basic level of fitness and good attitude will serve you well as you take this modern day expedition through the future parkland of Los Angeles.”

RSVPThere are only 14 spots available for this safari staycation fundraiser experience. Please RSVP right away if you are in! Only RSVP if you are confirmed. Each participant gets his own kayak and must be 10 yrs of age or older. The safari price is $120 (of which a portion goes to the FOCUSfish work with children with special needs, happening this summer and this Fall, with our exciting new partner! More news on that coming soon). Payments will be due by August 28, 2016 by check or online link. RSVP

DONATEIf you are unable to attend, but would like to participate in this fundraiser that will support our charitable programs, please click here to DONATE.

Thank you for your support!With love,Kristy“The Flounder”

FOCUSfisha 501c3 non-profit for public benefit#26-0530647focusfish.com